Certamen Homeri et Hesiodi
M = reading of the whole MS tradition
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
ΠΕΡΙ ΟΜΗΡΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΗΣΙΟΔΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥ ΓΗΝΟΥΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΩΝΟΣ ΑΥΤΩΝ.
1 Ὅμηρον καὶ Ἡσίοδον τοὺς θειοτάτους ποιητὰς πάντες ἄνθρωποι πολίτας ἰδίους εὔχονται λέγεσθαι. ἀλλ’ Ἡσίοδος μὲν τὴν ἰδίαν ὀνομάσας πατρίδα πάντας τῆς φιλονεικίας ἀπήλλαξεν εἰπὼν ὡς ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ· Hes. Op. 639-40
εἵσατο εἵσατο Stephanus: εἴσατο M: νάσσατο Hes. δ’ ἄγχ’ Ἑλικῶνος ὀιζυρῆι ἐνὶ κώμηι,
Ἄσκρηι, χεῖμα κακῆι, θέρει ἀργαλέηι, οὐδέ ποτ’ ἐσθλῆι.
2 Ὅμηρον δὲ πᾶσαι ὡς εἰπεῖν αἱ πόλεις καὶ οἱ ἔποικοι αὐτῶν παρ’ ἑαυτοῖς γεγενῆσθαι λέγουσιν. καὶ πρῶτοί γε Σμυρναῖοι Μέλητος ὄντα τοῦ παρ’ αὐτοῖς ποταμοῦ καὶ Κρηϊθίδος νύμφης κεκλῆσθαί φασι πρότερον Μελησιγενῆ, ὕστερον μέντοι τυφλωθέντα Ὅμηρον μετονομασθῆναι διὰ τὴν παρ’ αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων συνήθη προσηγορίαν. Χῖοι δὲ πάλιν τεκμήρια φέρουσιν ἴδιον εἶναι πολίτην λέγοντες καὶ περισώιζεσθαί τινας ἐκ τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ παρ’ αὑτοῖς Ὁμηρίδας καλουμένους. Κολοφώνιοι δὲ καὶ τόπον δεικνύουσιν, ἐν ὧι φασιν αὐτὸν γράμματα διδάσκοντα τῆς ποιήσεως ἄρξασθαι καὶ ποιῆσαι πρῶτον τὸν Μαργίτην.
3 περὶ δὲ τῶν γονέων αὐτοῦ πάλιν πολλὴ διαφωνία παρὰ πᾶσίν ἐστιν. Ἑλλάνικος FGrHist 4 F 5c = 5 Fowler μὲν καὶ Κλεάνθης fr. 592 von Arnim; cf. FGrHist 84 F 40 (Neanthes) Μαίονα λέγουσιν, Εὐγαίων FGrHist 535 F 2 = 2 Fowler δὲ Μέλητα, Καλλικλῆς FGrHist 758 F 13c δὲ †Μασαγόραν †Μασαγόραν Wilamowitz: Δμασαγόραν Barnes, edd. (cf. Eust. Od. 1713.17), Δημόκριτος δὲ <ὁ> Τροιζήνιος Supplementum Hellenisticum 378 Δαήμονα ἔμπορον, ἔνιοι δὲ Θαμύραν, Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ Μενέμαχον ἱερογραμματέα, ἐισὶ δὲ οἳ Τηλέμαχον τὸν Ὀδυσσέως· μητέρα δὲ οἱ μὲν Μῆτιν, οἱ δὲ Κρηθηίδα, οἱ δὲ Θεμίτην Θεμίτην M: Θεμίστην Stephanus, edd.: Θεμιστώ Barnes (cf. Paus. 10.24), οἱ δὲ Εὐγνηθώ Εὐγνηθώ M: Ὑρνηθώ Westermann, edd. (cf. Anon. Vit. Hom. 3.1), ἔνιοι δὲ Ἰθακησίαν τινὰ ὑπὸ Φοινίκων ἀπεμποληθεῖσαν, οἱ δὲ Καλλιὸπην τὴν Μοῦσαν, τινὲς δὲ Πολυκάστην τὴν Νέστορος. ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ Μέλης, ὡς δέ τινές φασι Μελησιγένης, ὡς <δ’> ἔνιοι Αὐλητής Αὐλητής (αὐλητήν) M: Ἄλτης Welcker, edd. (cf. schol. Il. 22.51). ὀνομασθῆναι <δ’> αὐτόν φασί τινες Ὅμηρον διὰ τὸ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ ὅμηρον δοθῆναι ὑπὸ Κυπρίων Πέρσαις, οἱ δὲ διὰ τὴν πήρωσιν τῶν ὀμμάτων· παρὰ γὰρ τοῖς Αἰολεῦσιν οὕτως οἱ πηροὶ καλοῦνται. ὅπερ δὲ ἀκηκόαμεν ἐπὶ τοῦ θειοτάτου αὐτοκράτορος Ἀδριανοῦ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τῆς Πυθίας περὶ Ὁμήρου, ἐκθησόμεθα. τοῦ γὰρ βασιλέως πυθομένου πόθεν Ὅμηρος καὶ τίνος, ἀπεφοίβασε δι’ ἑξαμέτρου τόνδε τὸν τρόπον· AP 14.102
ἄγνωστόν μ’ ἔρεαι γενεὴν καὶ πατρίδα γαῖαν ἄγνωστόν μ’ ἔρεαι γενεὴν καὶ πατρίδα γαῖαν M: ἄγνωστόν μ’ ἐρέεις γενεῆς καὶ πατρίδος αἴης AP
ἀμβροσίου σειρῆνος. ἕδος δ’ Ἰθακήσιός ἐστιν Ἰθακήσιός ἐστιν M: Ἰθάκη τις Ὁμήρου AP,
Τηλέμαχος δὲ πατὴρ καὶ Νεστορέη Ἐπικάστη Ἐπικάστη M: Πολυκάστη AP (cf. Od. 3.464, Cert. 3)
μήτηρ, ἥ μιν ἔτικτε βροτῶν πολὺ πάνσοφον ἄνδρα ἄνδρα M: ἄλλων AP.
οἷς μάλιστα δεῖ πιστεύειν διά τε τὸν πυθόμενον καὶ τὸν ἀποκρινάμενον, ἄλλως τε οὕτως τοῦ ποιητοῦ μεγαλοφυῶς τὸν προπάτορα διὰ τῶν ἐπῶν δεδοξακότος.
On Homer and Hesiod, their life and their contest.
1 All men desire Homer and Hesiod, the most divine poets, to be called their fellow citizens. But Hesiod, mentioning his own fatherland, settled all quarrels when he said that his father:
Settled in a dreary village near Helicon, Ascra, bad in winter, troublesome in summer, and never good.
2 As for Homer, all the cities, as it were, and their inhabitants claim that he was born among them. And first of all, the Smyrnaeans say that he was the son of the Meles, their local river, and of the nymph Cretheis, and that he was called Melesigenes at first; but later on, after becoming blind, he changed his name to Homer because of the name usually given to such people among them. The Chians, again, bring evidence that he was their fellow citizen, saying also that some of his offspring, called Homeridae, survive among them. The Colophonians even show the place where, when he was a teacher of letters, they say he started his poetic activity and first composed the Margites.
3 About his parents, again, there is much disagreement among all. For Hellanicus and Cleanthes say he was Maeon, Eugaeon Meles, Callicles †Masagoras, Democritus of Troezen the merchant Daemon, some Thamyras, the Egyptians Menemachus the sacred scribe, and there are also those who say he was Telemachus the son of Odysseus; his mother, some say she was Metis, some Chreteis, some Themite, some Eugnetho, some an Ithacan woman sold by the Phoenicians, some the Muse Calliope, some Polycaste the daughter of Nestor. He was called Meles, as some say Melesigenes, as others say Auletes. Some say he was named Homer because his father was given as a hostage to the Persians by the Cyprians; others say because of his blindness, for this is what the disabled are called among the Aeolians. But we will now set forth what we have heard from the mouth of the Pythia about Homer in the time of the most divine emperor Hadrian. For when the king enquired about Homer’s provenance and parentage, she, inspired, uttered the following in hexameter:
You ask me the forgotten descent and fatherland of the immortal Siren. He is an Ithacan by origin, Telemachus is his father and Epicaste, daughter of Nestor, the mother who bore him, a most wise man among mortals.
And this above all we must believe, because of who enquired and who responded, let alone that the poet has so grandly glorified his forefather through his verses.
| Relevant guides | Homer |
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